The view of the Dock-yard at Chatham is taken from the opposite side of the Medway, a little above Upnor Castle, which was built by Queen Elizabeth to defend the passage of the river. To the left is seen a sheer hulk, so called from her "sheers"—two strong pieces of timber of great height, inclining towards each other and joined together at the top—which are used for the purpose of raising and placing in their proper situations the lower masts of ships of war. Further to the right are perceived the large roofs of the building-slips and dry-docks; nearly abreast of which are two ships of war laid up in ordinary. A-head of those vessels are two others of the same class; and further up the river, directly in front, a view is obtained of part of the town of Chatham.

The Dock-yard of Chatham lies at a short distance to the northward of the town of that name, and on the right bank of the river Medway. The first dockyard at Chatham for the service of the navy was established by Queen Elizabeth. It was situated higher up the river than the present yard, on a narrow slip of land, and had only one dock. In 1622 a new dock-yard was formed by James I., and the site of the old one, which was too circumscribed for the service of the increasing navy, was assigned to the Board of Ordnance. In the reign of Charles I., additional dry-docks and building-slips were formed and several store-houses erected.

Chatham dock-yard is enclosed on the land side by a high wall, and the principal entrance is through a lofty gateway to the south-west, above which are the royal arms, and on each side an embattled tower. Strangers wishing to see the yard are furnished with a ticket by the superintendent of the dock-police on entering their names in a book kept at a lodge within the gate. There are four docks and seven building-slips at Chatham, most of which are covered with immense roofs. To the south-westward of the docks there is a long range of store-houses facing the river, and having in front a spacious quay, part of which is occupied as an anchor wharf. Behind this line of buildings, which is upwards of a thousand feet in length, is the ropery, where cables and all other kinds of ropes are manufactured for the use of ships of war. Beyond the docks to the northward, are the mast-ponds and sheds for storing timber, on the right; and on the left is the boat-house. At the smith's shop anchors and other articles of iron work are made for the use of the navy; and towards the north-eastern extremity of the yard is a saw-mill, erected by Mr. Brunel, the inventor of the block-machinery at Portsmouth. The mill is situated on an eminence, and the timber intended to be cut is floated through a tunnel from the Medway into an elliptic basin, from which it is raised by machinery to the level of the mill. The saws are put in motion by a steam-engine; and the timber, after having been cut, is conveyed away by trucks running on railways to different parts of the yard. When M. Charles Dupin, the celebrated French author of several works on the dock-yards, roads, bridges, and harbours of Great Britain, visited Chatham in 1817, he objected to this saw-mill being erected on an eminence; but he seems to have overlooked the consequent advantage of the timber being thence conveyed by a gentle slope, with very little labour, to the different docks and slips, without interfering with any of the other works.[14] The commissioner has a handsome residence within the walls of the yard, and there are also many excellent houses, which are occupied by the officers and principal artificers. A neat chapel, of brick, for the convenience of the officers and workmen, was erected within the yard in 1811. At one period during the late war, the number of men employed was 3000.

The Ordnance Wharf is situated to the south-westward of the dock-yard on the site of the old yard established by Queen Elizabeth, and it is still frequently called the Old Dock. The guns are placed in rows, and have painted on them the name of the ship to which they belong, and their weight of metal; the carriages are also placed separately, but under sheds. Large piles of shot are seen in various parts of the wharf; and there is also within its boundary an armoury, where various kinds of weapons—chiefly muskets, pistols, pikes, and cutlasses—are arranged in admirable order.

A fund—commonly called the Chest of Chatham—for the relief of disabled seamen, was established there by Queen Elizabeth on the recommendation of Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins, in 1588—the seamen of the royal navy, after the defeat of the Spanish Armada, having agreed to give up a portion of their pay for the relief of their wounded and disabled brethren. The Royal Marine Hospital of Chatham is one of the finest establishments of the kind in Great Britain, and from the elegance of its plan, the extent of its buildings, and its commanding position, forms a truly noble feature in the landscape.